


BtVS, Season 3, Episode 8, Lovers Walk

by TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Analysis, Episode Review, Episode: s03e08 Lovers Walk, Meta, Nonfiction, Season/Series 03, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:48:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23637820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer/pseuds/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer
Summary: Warning: Contains spoilers for the episode and the rest of the series. Complete.





	BtVS, Season 3, Episode 8, Lovers Walk

Open to Willow complaining about her SAT scores. Xander points out her verbal score is about equal to all of his results combined. They sit on a bench, and hugging her, he quickly jumps away when Cordelia and Oz appear.

It turns out Cordelia did well on her SATs, and she assures Xander she’s good at covering up her massive intelligence. Oz gently teases Willow about her supposedly subpar results, and when she nods sadly, he says he was using his sarcastic voice. Xander notes Oz’s sarcastic voice has little variation from his normal voice.

Oz suggests a double date in celebration, and Cordelia all but says no, but Xander is on-board.

Buffy appears with a glum look on her face. However, one look at Buffy’s score results in Willow having a spaz attack. Buffy did well and is unsure how to feel about this. Cordelia opines Buffy can leave Sunnydale and never come back before asking what sort of moron would ever want to come back to Sunnydale.

The answer is in the cut: later during the night, Spike drunkenly commits destruction of property on a Sunnydale sign before literally falling out of his car and declaring with a crazed laugh, “Home, sweet, home.”

Laughing and crying, he returns to the old factory. Wondering aloud why Drusilla left him, he destroys some of the dolls she left behind.

The next day, at school, Xander tries to convince a reluctant Cordelia to agree to a bowling double date with Oz and Willow. Then, he notices pictures of the two of them put up in her locker, and he’s both confused and incredibly happy by this. Cordelia’s facial expressions reveal she thinks it’s obvious she’d have a picture of her and her boyfriend in her locker, but she states he’s “just barely” locker-door material.

They run into Oz and Willow, and it’s decided the bowling date shall commence. Oz and Willow go over to her locker. Giving her a present, he says she’s the occasion. It’s a little Pez dispenser in the shape of a witch. Aw.

Willow is touched but sad she doesn’t have anything to give to him.

“Yeah, you do,” he somewhat sadly replies before walking away.

To me, this scene implies Oz suspects Willow’s interest is focusing elsewhere, and he’s trying his best to keep it. Although, I don’t think he actually believes she’s cheating on him.

Then again, this episode shows Oz does, at least, occasionally have enhanced senses outside of his transformations, especially in regards to Willow. In addition, a later episode has him immediately being able to use those senses to figure out something’s going on between Willow and Tara. So, maybe he does know what is going on but is hoping, if he can just ignore it, she’ll stop on her own and neither of them will actually have to deal with it.

Willow is incredibly sad and guilty.

In the library, Giles is excited about Buffy’s scores, and it’s established he’s going on a retreat for a few days. He suggests Buffy focus on getting an education and have Faith take over the slaying duties in Sunnydale. Then, he asks if she’s going to see Angel when he’s gone. Answering in the affirmative, she promises nothing more than friendship is taking place.

Meanwhile, Willow and Xander are discussing their secret rendezvouses. Willow is afraid the bowling date will give them away. Xander decides it’d be a good idea to nuzzle her in public. Willow waves the dispenser in face with the declaration, “Pez!”

At the Summers house, Joyce would rather have her daughter surrounded by boys and keg parties than vampires and hellmouths.

Fair enough.

Buffy, however, doesn’t see much of a distinction.

Again: Fair enough.

Joyce asks if there’s anything keeping Buffy in Sunnydale, and the answer is a transition to Angel. A still drunk and drinking Spike is spying from outside. When Angel leaves the room, Spike rambles on before tripping over something.

In the morning, the sun starts to set him on fire, and he jolts awake. He sticks in hand in what I hope is holy water before rushing to his covered-window car. He pours alcohol on his burned hand. “This is just too much,” he declares.

Well, I felt the same way after his first episode. James Marsters is a talented actor, but I’ve always hated Spike.

Next, in a shop of some sort, Spike enters through the back. Demanding a curse from the owner, he decides leprosy might be something suitably evil to inflict on Angel. The new-age type owner declares she’s sensing a lot of negative energy from him, and also, they don’t carry leprosy.

Willow comes in, and the owner goes to help her. Unnoticed, Spike listens to Willow explain she wants to make an anti-love spell, and after Willow leaves, he attacks the owner.

In the mayor’s office, he good-naturedly complains about his lack of golf prowess. An aide explains Spike is back and doing things such as attacking people in broad daylight. The mayor directs the aide to handle things.

At Angel’s, he and Buffy talk about her potential college plans, and he urges her to pursue her education. Disappointed, she leaves.

Meanwhile, Willow has lured Xander to school under false pretences, and when he finds out she’s trying to cast a spell altering his emotions without his consent, he understandably isn’t happy.

Appearing, Spike knocks Xander out before kidnapping them both. At the factory, he drunkenly orders Willow to make him a love spell. Breaking down even more, he laminates Drusilla refused even to kill him.

I share his pain and disappointment.

Sitting down next to a visibly terrified Willow, he wonders if it was too much to ask for Drusilla to show a bit of caring by cutting off his head or setting him on fire.

This scene is darkly funny, and despite my Spike hatred, he’s can be sometimes be tolerable when his presence produces scenes like this.

Ignoring her crying, he pours his non-existent soul out to her: Drusilla thought his temporary alliance with Buffy was a sign of softness, and when they went to Brazil, despite giving her beautiful jewels and dresses, including beautiful women wearing those dresses, she repeatedly cheated on him. Finally, he told her he wouldn’t stand for it anymore, and in response, Drusilla said they could still be friends.

In other words: _He_ broke up with her.

I’d never advise or encourage anyone to stay in a relationship where they’re being cheated on, but the fact is, once they decide to leave, it’s their choice. They can certainly blame the other person for being the reason they left, but to say the other person left them simply isn’t true.

He nuzzles into Willow’s neck, and awkwardly patting him, she offers, “There, there.”

Then, things get uncomfortable. Taking in her scent and vamping out, he says he hasn’t had a woman in sometime. Jumping up, Willow hurriedly babbles she’ll do the spell for him, but in return, there will be no sexually assaulting or otherwise harming her. Going back to his human face, Spike agrees. Threatening Xander if this isn’t done right, he orders her to get started.

Willow informs him she needs more ingredients than he has available and a different spell book. He asks where the stuff needed is.

At the library, Buffy is training with a skip rope. Bursting in, Oz and Cordelia take her to the disarrayed science lab. Directing them to go to Giles’s retreat, she plans to start searching town for Willow and Xander.

Back in the library, the phone rings, and it’s Joyce. She wants to schedule a time for them to talk about some nearby colleges, and Buffy tries to explain there’s an emergency but freezes when she hears Spike greet her mother.

At the Summer’s home, Joyce pours Spike some tea. Complaining about Drusilla’s cheating, he explains he thought they’d make up after he broke up with her.

Declaring Drusilla sounds unreasonable, Joyce tells him sometimes, despite two people seeming right for one another, it just doesn’t work out. She uses her and Buffy’s father as an example. Spike, however, insists he and Drusilla were supposed to be literally eternal together. Then, he asks if Joyce has any mini-marshmallows. Heh.

Outside, Angel is stalking around the house when he sees Spike and Joyce talking. He tries to burst in, but he’s stopped by the lack of an invitation. Angry to see him, Joyce threatens to stake him herself if he doesn’t leave. Behind her, Spike silently taunts him.

Threatening to kill Spike if he hurts Joyce, Angel begs her to invite him in.

Appearing, Buffy manhandles Spike as she invites Angel in. Joyce and her confusion are ignored, and Spike agrees to take them to Willow and Xander after they get the stuff for the spell.

Elsewhere, Oz is driving when he smells Willow and her fear. This creeps Cordelia out. They get out to try to find the two.

Meanwhile, Spike is sobering up. He annoys both Buffy and this part of the audience by moping over the fact he broke up with his girlfriend and she didn’t take him back.

Buffy suggests he just has Willow and Xander locked at the factory, but he implies otherwise.

At the new age shop, tearing down the crime scene tape, the spread out. Buffy points out moping isn’t going to get Drusilla back, and Spike declares the spell will. Angel makes the correct point Drusilla is fickle and has, frankly, never been as attached to Spike as Spike’s been to her.

Spike blames both of them for Drusilla’s loss of interest in him, and then, he calls them on their own issues. However, several more tolerable characters have also done this, and I’m not impressed. He gives his famous line of, “I may be love’s bitch, but at least, I’m man enough to admit it.”

I’ve never thought this was the great line so many others do.

The least a person can do to gain some tiny silver of respect is to admit when they’re badly screwed up in some way.

Spike knows, even if Drusilla takes him back, she’ll still keep hurting him. He realises how twisted and wrong the dependence on her for his happiness is but makes no effort to fix things.

At the factory, Xander wakes up, and Willow reveals she has no listening comprehension by saying Drusilla broke up with Spike. They start snogging, and of course, Oz and Cordelia come down to rescue them right then. Oz calmly says they all need to leave, but rushing away, Cordelia takes a nasty fall.

Meanwhile, Angel, Spike, and Buffy are leaving the shop. Vampires surround them. The head vampire says Buffy and Angel are free to leave, and Buffy is awesomely willing to accept this. Except, Spike reminds her the knowledge of where her friends are dies with him. “Sorry,” she apologies to the head vampire. Hee.

There’s a fight, and the three manage to barricade themselves in the shop. Buffy breaks off three chair legs for stakes. “I violently dislike you,” she informs Spike.

Then, one of the vampires enters via the backdoor. The others follow.

Meanwhile, Oz goes to get help, Xander lowers himself down to where Cordelia fell, and Willow tells her not to move.

Over at the shop, there’s more fighting. The three eventually win. Cheered up at physically taking his frustrations out, Spike decides against the spell. He admits Xander and Willow are at the factory.

He also decides to find Drusilla to torture her until she likes him again.

This might as well be the scene shown whenever someone wants a quick, effective character-establishing moment in regards to him. This is always the way. Whenever Spike falls, he becomes overly-dependent on the other person for his happiness and attempts to change himself if he thinks it’ll help.

Even now, his determination isn’t to find himself, his determination is to go back to who he once was so he can be with the woman who, intentionally or not, caused him terrible pain.

In the factory, Cordelia loses consciousness, and there’s a brief fake-out where the next scene shows a funeral. Then, Willow and Buffy walk past it. They talk about how, despite losing a significant amount of blood, Cordelia is still alive. Xander is going to visit her, and Oz is refusing to talk to Willow. Buffy comforts her.

At the hospital, Cordelia orders Xander to stay away from her, and to his credit, he quietly leaves. She cries, and it’s tough to watch.

Elsewhere, Buffy tells Angel they can never be friends. Angel doesn’t want to accept this, and Buffy challenges him, “Tell me you don’t love me.”

I hate it when characters utter this line. It always smacks of emotional manipulation.

There’s a montage. Angel is sitting with his head hung, Willow is sitting in her bedroom looking at her Pez dispenser, Oz is morosely holding his guitar, Xander is doing library duties with a look of pain on his face, Cordelia is in her hospital bed, and blurry people pass Buffy by.

Last, there’s Spike rocking out in his car as he leaves town.

Hopefully, he’s sober this time.

Fin.


End file.
